Representatives of the Therapy and Family Medicine Department Participated in the Manual Presentation

Representatives of the Department of Therapy and Family Medicine – Head of the Department Professor Liliya Babinets and Associate Professors Iryna Borovyk and Nataliia Botsiuk – participated in the presentation of the “General Practice – Family Medicine” manual.

The event was organized by the Ukraine-Switzerland “Medical Education Development” project with participation from the Ministry of Health, including Head of the Department of Medical Personnel, Education, and Science Serhii Ubohov, and Olena Nykonchuk, Deputy Head of the Department and Head of the Medical Personnel Coordination Division, who moderated the event. 

The leaders of the country’s healthcare sector are understandably interested in teaching family medicine: on the one hand, there is a significant need for primary care workers, yet on the other, students are often reluctant to choose family medicine as their specialty after graduation. This was highlighted by research from the Ukraine-Switzerland project. Compared to others, much of the time in the sixth year of study is allocated to general practice-family medicine at TNMU. However, for half of the students, career decisions have already been made, and the primary focus is on graduating and passing final exams. This explains why family doctors at the event described choosing their specialization just due to existing circumstances. Nevertheless, they all expressed confidence in the rightness of their choice and noted their love and satisfaction with the profession.

Thus, there are many challenges ahead that require collaborative solutions. Representatives from the Ministry of Health and the Ukraine-Switzerland project committed to supporting changes and implementing the “General Practice – Family Medicine” discipline. Addressing these issues will require close cooperation between family medicine faculty, university administrations, and educational departments to account for the perspectives and needs of each side.

The “General Practice – Family Medicine” manual is intended for family medicine faculty in higher education institutions for student training. Family medicine faculty can request a paper or electronic version via the link: https://forms.office.com/e/q82vSxqE01.